Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
There was nothing to fear …
Cael kissed me. He kissed and kissed me and joined us so close it was as if we were two stars colliding. When he pulled back, I didn’t think anything else could make me feel so adored, until he whispered, “I’m falling for you, Peaches.”
I drew in a stuttered, shocked breath. But as his husky voice and that softly spoken admission fell over me, there was only a sense of rightness inside of me. Cael wanting me and me wanting him so fiercely it occupied every one of my thoughts.
Cael’s eyes betrayed his frayed nerves at his vulnerable confession. He had no reason to be scared. “I’m falling for you too,” I whispered back, not wanting to disturb the peace that we had created in this magical place—standing united on this snowy beach.
The smile that lit up Cael’s face was blinding.
Both of his hands wrapped into my hair, and I kissed him. Kissing him came as naturally as breathing. My chest pressed to his and I smiled against his lips as his heart drummed in sync with my own. My lips tingled under his touch, and I felt like I could have stayed here forever, kissing this boy with everything I had, giving him all of my heart and soul. Then—
I gasped against Cael’s lips and drew back my head, tipping my head up to the sky. A laugh tore from my throat as a snowflake landed on the tip of my eyelash. “It’s snowing.”
Cael peered up at the sky too, the snowflakes turning from tiny morsels of white to thick drops in mere seconds. Snowflakes kissed our faces as thoroughly as our lips had just kissed.
Cael held me in his arms as I felt the snow on my face, and as I gazed out over the water, the snowflakes disappeared as they met the water’s surface. I closed my eyes and let the snow fall all over me. Embraced the biting cold that scattered within me. “What is this place?” I murmured in disbelief and looked back at Cael.
He was already watching me with a gentle smile on his face. His gloveless finger traced my cupid’s bow and ran over my bottom lip. He was so beautiful. The most perfect boy I had ever seen. I laughed harder when a cluster of snowflakes began to stick to his messy hair that was escaping the protection of his beanie.
“I could listen to that forever,” Cael said. It occurred to me in that moment that I’d still not heard him laugh. Not really. Not a true free laugh.
I let my forehead fall to his and held him close, suspended under the snowfall on a beach that was dressed in winter.
Cael kissed me again. A shorter kiss this time, but it was no less sweet. He sat down on the beach, then guided me to sit against him, situating me between his spread legs, my back against his front.
And we watched the falling snow in silence. I had to blink several times to make myself believe that I was truly here. Nothing about this felt real. Not even Cael kissing me. I lifted my finger to my lips. They were warm from the many kisses we’d shared.
I’d had my first kiss.
I’d had my first kiss from a boy who was fast becoming the center of my world.
“Find your Rune …”
As Poppy’s letter to me circled my mind, I noticed a familiar sight above me. “Orion’s belt,” I said, pointing to the three stars in the sky. A memory filtered down and I explained, “When we were younger, we—Poppy, Ida, and I—used to say that those stars were meant just for us.” I shook my head, grasping on to the happiness that memory inspired and not the sadness that was trying to follow. Cael pushed back my long hair from my neck and kissed the skin just below my ear. Shivers trickled down my spine at the featherlight touch.
“You’re a good person,” he said and caused me to still.
“You are too,” I said, after turning to meet his eyes.
He looked tortured. Clearly realizing I had noticed, he said, “He didn’t tell me,” and it broke my heart when I knew he was referring to Cillian. Snowflakes kissed his cheeks and eyes, clung like tiny angels to his dark, wavy hair. “He didn’t tell me he’d fallen into darkness. And I didn’t see the signs.” I squeezed his hand, but this time it wasn’t to remind him to push these feelings away. I wanted him to know that I was here for him.
Some things should never be pushed away when they are ready to be shared.
I knelt between his legs and placed my hand on his cheek. I searched his desolate gaze. “I can’t speak on your brother’s behalf. But sometimes we keep things to ourselves, so soul destroying that they can tear us apart inside.” I kissed his cheek, the corner of his mouth, then finally his lips. “Sometimes, people don’t let their loved ones know how much they are hurting because they don’t want to bring them pain too.”